I’m behind on posting movie reviews here lately, but I’ve been up to my neck in them. I think I’m off the next few weeks though. Here’s links to a bunch of recent reviews at Past The Popcorn.

Fido: (dark zombie comedy) Quirky and interesting, not everyone’s cup of tea but I like zombie movies!

Sunshine: (scifi thriller) Liked the first 2/3 and thought the ending ruined the movie

Hot Rod: (comedy) Wasn’t clicking with me at first but it grew on me and I wound up laughing my arse off by the end

The Bourne Ultimatum: (action thriller) Predictable but good, if you liked the first two you’ll love this one too, I did!

Stardust: (fantasy romance) A little long with too many story lines, but still a great fantasy movie… I liked it!

So how about you? Seen any good movies lately?

If you like Bruce Willis and especially his character John McClane from the Die Hard movies, you’ll want to go see the fourth movie in the series, Live Free or Die Hard. My official review comes out tomorrow, but I’ll just summarize by saying this is a good, old-fashioned, summer action movie.  No surprises… plenty of explosions, gun fights, and dark humor.

Tonight was Lindsey’s “graduation” from 5th grade. This is the last grade in elementary school here, after the summer break she moves on to middle school. It was a mercifully short event and the kids had a lot of fun. Can you tell from this photo that they’re 5th graders?!

After the celebration, we continued to celebrate by going out to dinner before I dropped the kids and my ex off at their house. A fine time was had by all. The kids have a partial school day tomorrow (about 3 hours for some reason, they won’t actually do anything) and then summer vacation commences.

In other news… my review of Eagle vs. Shark, the independant romantic-comedy from New Zealand, is now online. The quick and dirty summary, if you liked Napolean Dynomite you might like this, if you didn’t you may want to steer clear.

I’ve been out of the loop on movie reviews in recent weeks but am easing back in this week. I caught a screening of Evan Almighty last night and *loved* it.  I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard through a movie. I just tagged along with some of our other staffers so I’m not on the hook for the review, but mine would be positive.

I loved Steve Carell in the title role, his physical comedy is hilarious.  I also loved Wanda Sykes as his assistant, I always find her sarcastic style of humor entertaining. Morgan Freeman is back in the role of God of course, and I have to say I really enjoy him in this role. I think you’ll really find the animals as entertaining as the humans in this film.  All of the scenes involving them are amazing. Over 100 different species were used in filming.

My only real complaint, and it’s very minor, is that the environmental message embodied in the film is a little heavy-handed at times.  Not that I really minded!

Tonight I’m off to see a film that I do have to review, Eagle vs Shark. This independent film from New Zealand is a romantic comedy about a shy, fast-food cashier and an eccentric geek from a video game store.  And that’s about all I know. Could be interesting or… not.

I attended a screening of the new Eric Bana/Drew Berrymore film “Lucky You” tonight. It’s a sort of love story set against a background of competitive poker in Las Vegas.  Interesting combination. There were things I liked about it, and I enjoyed it, but honestly it’s a little too long and drags in spots.

The most interesting thing to me about it was Eric Bana’s character Huck. His father tells him at one point that his life is topsy-turvy. That he takes risks at the poker table when he should be conservative and plays it safe in his personal life when he should take risks. I can relate.

In reality I’m a real wall flower. I play it safe in my career, in finances, in relationships. It’s only in the safe anonymity of my helmet, behind my dark face shield that I let things hang out. I’ve blogged before that the person I am inside doesn’t match who I am outside.  I think I’m fated to go through life that way, as I really don’t know how to reconcile the multiple facets of my personality.

Has anyone else dealt with this and figured it out?  I’d sure like to find the answer…

For zombie fans (you know who you are) the date May 11, 2007 is one you want to mark on your calendar. That’s the day the movie 28 Weeks Later opens in the US. This of course is the much anticipated sequel to 28 Days Later.

Go watch the trailer!

Matt was over this weekend. With both kids getting older, they like to have “focused” time with me so we’re on a schedule that alternates solo weekends with weekends for both of them to be here.  In between I have free weekends which will become more important as the weather improves and motorcycle season gets into full swing.

We opted for a movie marathon of sorts on Saturday, breaking out two classic, if campy, horror flicks… Night of the Comet and Return of the Living Dead. I loosely group the first into the zombie genre, it was a chance find while we were out shopping.  It hasn’t been available for years but was finally released on DVD earlier this month. Neither movie is considered “canon” for zombie movies, but they are still entertaining!

Sunday our only concrete plan was to collect Matt’s girlfriend and catch a viewing of 300 along with dinner. In keeping with the general theme so far, the zombie connection here is that the director Zack Snyder was responsible for the 2004 remake of the classic Dawn of the Dead.

300 is a movie that is probably not to everyone’s taste. In one sense it’s incredibly violent, on the other hand its overall style is that of a graphic novel so it doesn’t seem as violent as a “normal” live action movie would be. All three of us liked it a great deal, I may even see it again as it was quite a visual treat. If you see it, you should know that it is based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller, though the bones of the story are rooted in actual history. This may affect your perception of the movie.

And that’s probably enough for one weekend, though our “at dinner” conversation sparked some thoughts I’ll share in an upcoming post.

Ok, I saw this one last night and I wound up loving it.  I have to confess, I didn’t think I would up front but it managed to connect with me and I really got into the story.

It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea for sure. It’s got plenty of raw, gritty moments on tap. And vintage Samual L. Jackson. And Christina Ricci… chained to a radiator.  Yes, yes, a strange premise but it winds up working. For me at least. And oh yes, smokin’ blues… Jackson learned to play guitar for this movie and he does a credible job I thought.

I even liked the way they handled religion. Practical, not too preachy, not judgmental. A lot of church-goers could learn something by watching.

If you like a movie a little off-beat this one might be worth checking out…

Black Snake Moan

Whew, this has been the week for movies! Besides Terabithia, I saw Breach this week and I’m hitting up a screening of Ghost Rider with Matt tonight. I’m sure it’s going to be campy, it might even suck.  But hey, it’s got a flaming motorcycle in it… how can I pass that up?

All three reviews come out tomorrow.  Man, keeping up with all of this research and writing takes a person that is really organized and and on top of things. Hmm, now if I just knew someone with those traits that I could con into doing the “work” part of things…

Updated 02/16: This week’s reviews have now been published, to recap:

Bridge to Terabithia - Well worth seeing!
Breach - A good movie, recommended if you’re into political thrillers
Ghost Rider - Lukewarm, if you’re into “B” movies or Nic Cage catch a matinee

Lindsey and I just got back from seeing a screening of Bridge to Terabithia. With a movie based on a book, you never know how its going to turn out.  Normally, not very well in my opinion.  Not the case here at all! The movie is very faithful to the book! The casting is wonderful. The special effects work to reinforce the fact that Terabithia is an *imagined* world, not real at all except in the minds of the children. I could gush on and on, but then there would be no point in anyone reading my full review later this week. *grin*

If you’ve read the book you already know how special the story is, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.  If you haven’t read the book, then I think you’re in for a treat if you catch this one when it opens. If you’re a hard-nosed cynic, I suppose you could find this movie a total bore.  Anyone with a heart, I think, is going to appreciate the themes you’ll find in this bitter sweet tale.